Many lakes in the region are closing to fishing at the end of this month. The good news is that there are lots of year-round lakes that offer very good fishing in the fall and early winter. So, don’t put that tackle box away just yet. There are many bright and sunny days in winter in our region.
Last Monday was a special day. It was the first time this year my brother Rick and I were able to fish together. He wanted to go to Blue Lake, north of Soap Lake, to see if we could catch some of the big perch he has heard were caught in this lake. He was also very interested in seeing the new boat I am driving this year. We used the public launch on the east shore of the lake to put the Mark’s Marine Thunder Jet Luxor in the water. I suggested trying going down the lake from here to look for fish, using my new tool, the Garmin Live Scope. We didn’t see any perch on the scope, but lots of trout. We worked our way up the shore and found a couple of schools of perch. The schools were 50 to 60 feet deep and showed clearly on the scope. Rick said he was seeing rainbow chase his perch jigs. Well, if the perch weren’t biting we could always get some trout. We both put on barbless hook jigs and caught and released a bunch of them. If you want to catch some trout, Blue Lake is the place.
I have mentioned Calder Fiske in reports related to coho fishing on the Icicle River here in Leavenworth. Twice last week he has come over to show me the coho he had landed earlier that day. I was surprised to find the condition of the fish much better than I expected for this time of year. Also, Calder is catching these coho on the jigs that he is making. His latest versions are made with rabbit fur and are obviously attractive to the fish. I see lots of lures being demonstrated on Instagram, but Calder has photographic proof of how well his work. Calder has reported that he likes to fish the stretch of the Icicle below the hatchery and said that he is seeing more fish in the Icicle than earlier in the season. I checked the regs and found that the Icicle will remain open to fishing until the end of November, and I would suggest that anglers that want to catch coho to take home fish it soon. If you want to support this 14-year-old’s entrepreneurial efforts, go to the Calderfish Instagram page and you can order his jigs from there.
I had a video project to do last Wednesday that took me to Palmer Lake. I have been to Palmer Lake before a few times, checking on the ice fishing, and years ago my wife and I did a video on the kokanee fishing with Jerrod Gibbons. Palmer Lake is known for excellent kokanee and bass fishing, and some of best fishing for burbot in the state. The video is of the Lodge at Palmer Lake, which can accommodate over 20 guests. I will let you know when you can get a video tour of this lodge, that is located in an area where there are several lakes that offer premium fly fishing. I left early enough to stop by a couple of these lakes before I got to Palmer. One was Blue Lake, near Wanacut Lake, and this one is known to produce large Lahontan cutthroat. No internal combustion motors are allowed, and only single barbless hooks are required and bait is prohibited. The limit is one fish over 18 inches. There is another Blue Lake down the road, near Sinlahekin that has the same rules. Wanacut Lake is in the same area and produces whopper rainbow.
When I finished a video project at the Lodge at Palmer Lake, and was heading home, I noticed some anglers that had just pulled their boat off the lake, and it looked like they were cleaning fish. Of course, I had to stop and check it out. They were in fact filleting a nice burbot. They had been fishing for kokanee, and although the kokanee weren’t biting they caught two burbot and several perch on their kokanee gear. If you don’t know, Palmer Lake is probably the best lake in the state for burbot. In fact, the state record for burbot was set at Palmer Lake and stood for many years. Some people call these fish freshwater ling cod, as they have a large head that looks like the saltwater version. Burbot are highly prized for their bright white flesh. I recall being told that when Palmer freezes many anglers are targeting these fish. They would catch the redside chubs that inhabit the lake and use these for bait. The fact that these anglers were catching burbot on their kokanee gear indicates there are very good numbers of them in the lake and they are hungry!
One of the lakes in the region that gets a lot of attention in the fall and winter is Roses Lake, near Manson at Lake Chelan. The reason is that every year the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife plant a of lot fish in the lake. The year, in October, they will release 2,000 brown trout and 2,000 tiger trout in Roses. They follow that up with a plant of 20,000 rainbow in November. This gives anglers something to look forward to when many other lakes have closed for the season and won’t open until next spring. Last year, I took two fishing buddies with me to Roses Lake. We pinched the barbs down on Wooly Bugger type flies and trolled the far side of the lake. We were very busy catching a mix of rainbow and tiger trout. The fish weren’t big, but it was a fun day on the water. I have also had good success trolling Rapalas on Roses, that had been converted to single barbless hooks. There is a nice fishing pier here, too. I want to caution anglers about the launch. It is super slippery, and four wheel drive is recommended. This week’s photo was taken at Roses last year at this time.
